What Zucchini is all about? Well here is the report of the extensive research that I did on zucchini Special thanks to Deepa vaini! But for her I wouldn’t have explored so much about this veggie.

Zucchini resembles cucumber. They are a part squash or pumpkin family. There are many varieties of Zucchini. Their skin color could be dark green or light green or even yellow! The flowers of the zucchini plant are also edible and used for preparing salads.

Zucchini , Credit: http://hamptons.guestofaguest.com

Zucchini, Credits: www.bonappetit.com

Zucchini has very low calorie content and has about 95% water. Zucchini is a rich source of Vitamin C and also has good amounts of Vitamin A and Potassium.

I bought dark green Zucchini. I am used to the fact that any veggie that I buy should be rich in its native color. The same fact applies to Zucchini too. Before buying make sure that the Zucchini is very firm and dark in color. Do not select the ones that are soft. Darker the zucchini, higher its nutritional content.

I had peeled the Zucchini… but it’s good to use it with the rind since most of the nutrients are in the skin

Though they resemble cucumber, I couldn’t relate zucchini with cucumber in terms of the taste. Zucchini has a bland taste/flavor! Zucchini curry tasted (somewhat) like Snake Gourd curry (podalangai in Tamil). Zucchini tastes heavenly when it is transformed as “Zucchini curry” or “Zucchini bread”, “Zucchini muffin” etc…

Zucchini can be used in salads, stir-fried, grilled or baked. Here is the Zucchini Curry that I had prepared.

Few interesting info:

Zucchini is known as “Tori/Turaii” in Hindi.

Zucchini is botanically a fruit but treated as vegetable! Some say that it is the swollen ovary of zucchini flower.

Very nice info on zucchini…. would be good if Chef Anu can explore into recipes for more Indian dishes using Zucchini…. bengali zucchini curry is one that comes to my mind …. perhaps in another post, Chef Anu?